Building method and construction



jm--l29 937s l"1 BUILDING METHOD AND CONSTRUCTION I I Filed April 148, 1935 l N V E NTOR `Ime-L Ru/)EBENE BY. WZL

Patented Jan. 12, 1937 UNITED STATES 2,067,860 BUILDING- METHOD AND CONSTRUCTION Joel Pomerene, Chicago, Ill., assignor to United States Gypsum Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application April 18, 1935, Serial No. 16,958

11 Claims.

This invention relates to building constructions, and has reference more particularly to porous ceiling and wall constructions in which provision is made to prevent breathing through the porous ceiling or wall intor an air space behind the wall or above the ceiling, witha resultantisoiling of the wall or ceiling.

Where there is an air space between a wall or ceiling construction and adjoining rooms or the floor or roof above, there has always been trouble due to a deposit of dirt on the wall or ceiling due to an action which has been termed breathingl Thus, in ceiling constructions this breathing action is due to the difference in temperature between the air in the space between the ceiling or the roof above and the temperature of the air in the room belowthe ceiling. This difference in temperature causes the air in the space where the temperature is higher to expand, 'causing a difference in air pressure on the opposite sides of the ceiling construction. This difference in temperature is, of course, compensated by air from the higher pressure side ltering through the porous ceiling construction until the pressure on the two sides is equal. In passing through the ceiling construction, the dirt in the air is deposited on the surface, and this of course discolors the ceiling and is very objectionable. This action has commonly produced lath 'marks on ordinary plaster ceilings which are more or less porous in nature.

Due to the necessarily porous nature of acoustical materials, this action/has been particularly objectionable where acoustical treatment has been used on walls and ceilings, and manufacturers and builders have been trying to find a Way to overcome this breathing action. Various methods of sealing the upper or reverse surface of such acoustical materials to make the wall or ceiling air-tight have been tried, but in most cases I have found that this is practically an im'- possibility, as there are always some places which are not completely sealed,- from which it follows that the breathing is conned to these small areas, and the deposit of dirt on the surface is thus very much accentuated.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide means in connection with a' porous wall or ceiling to prevent the filtering of air through said wall or ceiling by equalizing air pressures above and below said ceiling r on both sides of said wall. In its simplest embodiment, the present invention accomplishes this object by providing an enlarged opening, or a plurality 'of openings, between the Wall or ceiling and the next (Cl. 2li-4) adjoining space so that any air-pressure diierential between the room and the space may cause a flow of air practically entirely through the openings rather than through the ne pores or interstices of the wall or ceiling itself. These openings should be large enough to prevent ltration of air through the porous wall or ceiling. The openings may be distributedat various points in the ceiling or wall, but for most purposes a fair sized opening, say, about one foot square, establishing free communication between the room and the adjoining space, will be sufficient. In many cases the space behind the -wall or ceiling is a dead air space, but the invention is not limited to such dead air spaces. In most cases of preventing reverberation of noise in a room, it is the ceiling only that is lined with sound-absorbing tile or plaster, and hence, in its specic embodiment, the invention nds its greatest utility in connection with ceilings that are either naturally porous or deliberately made porous to permit of entrapment of impinging sound Waves.

Another object of the invention is to prevent the soiling of acoustical ceilings, also to improve building constructions and methods in other re spects hereinafter specified and claimed. As a specic embodiment of the present invention, its use with an acoustically sound-absorbing ceiling will be described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, in which Figure l is a perspective view showing one form of the improved building construction;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation through said building structure;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation showinga modi-4 ed form of building construction;

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation showing a further modied form of building construction;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a ventilator used in the construction shown in Fig, 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation through a further modied form of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a still further modified form of ventilator; and

Fig. 8 is a further modification of the invention, employing a molding spaced from the wall and openings in the ceiling adjacent the wall.

In constructing a building having side Walls I0 and ceiling rafters or framework il, it is common to support a floor, I2 on top of said rafters and support a ceiling below said rafters. The ceiling may comprise plaster or other building boards I3 which are secured by nails or the like ing forms an air space i6 above the boards i3 and about the rafters ii. In order to equalize thepressure of heated air below the ceiling and cooler air Within the air space iii, I provide an opening I'l in the boards i3 and tiles iii so that Y air may freely flow into the air space it without being forced through tiles i 5 and boards i3, thus preventing the tiles i5 from becoming soiled due to the effect of dirt and dust filtered from the air that would otherwise pass through the tile. A foraminous closure or grille i8 is secured across the opening il, being inset between the tiles iii. A frame IS, preferably of angle strips, is secured around the periphery of the grille it so as to present a finished appearance.

'I'he modified construction shown in Fig. 3 differs from that shown in Fig. 2 in that a grille is secured, as by nailing, to the outer face of tiles i5. The form shown in Fig. 2 is somewhat preferable to that shown in Fig. 3 in that dirt-de positing air currents are kept away from the outer face of tiles I5 by the grille-frame i9. My invention is also applicable to ordinary metal or Wood lath and plaster walls and ceilings which are porous in nature and quickly show up lath marks due to air ltration through the wall or ceiling.

In the form of invention shown in Figs. i and 5, a foraminous metal pan 2l is provided with upturned end flanges 22 and upturned side flanges 23, said flanges iitting snugly within the ventilating opening 2li. The side anges 2E are wider than the flanges 22 so as to provide a ventilating space below the rafters ii (Fig. 4). Any desired shape of slots or holes 25 may be provided in the pan face 2i to permit the passage of air therethrough.

In the construction shown in Fig. 6, I employ steel beams 28 for supporting the floor 2i, and cross runners 28 are secured below the beams 25. A sheet of expanded metal lath 2@ is secured to the runners 23 by wires 30, and common plaster or acoustical plaster 3| is applied to the lower face of said metal lath, a Ventilating opening 32 being provided in said plaster to permit air pressure to equalize in the dead air space about the beams 26. A grille 33 is applied over the opening 32, being secured bv clips 34 to the unplastered portion of the metal lath 2t.

In Fig. 7 I have illustrated a specialform of Ventilating grille which may consist of' an acoustical tile 35 which has its exposed face painted or otherwise treated 'to permit the exposed face 3ft of said tile to be washed or otherwise cleaned when it becomes soiled. I-Ioles or openings 3l are provided in the tile 35 to permit the passage of air into the air space as previously, described. It should be understood that all of the grilles hereinabove described are preferably painted or otherwise treated to permit cleaning when they become soiled.

Still a further modification ofthe invention is shown .in Fig. 8. vThis construction substantially completely conceals the means by which free communication between the room and the ad joining space is obtained. The ceiling i5 is so constructed as to leave, at intervals, a space liil between the wall i0 and the ceiling. A suitable molding 4i is nailed or otherwise fastened to the wall i0 by means of nails or Screws 32, lleisaoaasco ing suitable spacing-blocks it so as to leave open spaces iii between the molding and the wall, cornmunicating with the openings or spaces i0 between the ceiling and wall. This will therefore permit air to flow from the room and the space behind or above the ceiling as shown by arrow 135.

In order to conceal the existence of the space between the wall and molding li from the eyes of occupants of the room, a second molding l5 may be attached to the wall il] a short distance below the first, spaced, molding iii, leaving a space lil for passage of air currents as indicated by the arrow Qt. In this way the building up of a plenum of pressure and filtration of air through the porous ceiling will be prevented.

I would state/ in conclusion that while the illustrated examples constitute practical embodiments of my invention, I do not wish to limit myself precisely to these details, since manifestly they may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Thus a plurality of grilles may be employed, either of the same size or smaller than the tile. Alternatively, a long narrow slot covered with a suitably perforated as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a building construction, supporting building framework, a oor supported on top of said framework, a porous ceiling supported below said framework and forming an air space between said oor and ceiling, said ceiling being provided with a Ventilating opening to establish free communication between the room and the air space.

2.' In a building construction, a substantially horizontal building framework, a floor and a porous ceiling supported by said framework and forming an air space about said framework, said ceiling being provided with a Ventilating opening, and a foraminous grille positioned in said opening.

3. In a building construction, a substantially horizontal building framework, a floor supported on top of said framework, and a ceiling supported below said framework and forming an air space between said floor and ceiling, said ceiling being composed in part of surfacing of porous, sound absorbing material, said ceiling being provided with a Ventilating opening into said air space to establish free communication between the room and the air space.

4. A construction for preventing breathing and soiling of a porous ceiling by the passage of air. through said ceiling into an airspace above said ceiling, which comprises a Ventilating opening in said ceiling so that air pressure below said ceiling is equalized with the air pressure in said air space, thus retarding the passage of air through the pores of said ceiling.

5. A construction for preventing accumulation of dirt and development of lath marks on a porous ceiling of a room which comprises means for the escape of air from said room at some point in said ceiling in amounts sufficient to prevent the accumulation of a layer of heated air immediately below the ceiling.

6. The method of correcting the acoustic prop- Ilatter being provided `with at least one ventilaterties of a room which comprises lining at least the ceiling of said room with a porous soundabsorbing material and providing at at least one point on` said ceiling grilled Ventilating means to prevent the accumulation of a plenum of pressure in said room.

7. In a building construction, the combination of a' room having walls and a ceiling, 'porous sound-absorbing material on said ceiling, the latter being provided with at least one ventilating opening communicating withI an adjacent space, and a grille across said opening.

8. In `a building construction comprising a room having Walls, floor and a ceiling, the ceiling being, at leastin part composed of porous airpermeable material, the improvement which comprises means of escape of .air from said room between said ceiling and wall, and a molding concealing said means.

v9. In a building construction, the combination of a room having walls and a ceiling, porous sound-absorbing material on said ceiling, the

ing opening communicating with an adjacent space, and a molding spaced suiliciently below said opening not to obturate the same but suiciently close thereto substantially toconceal it from the view of an occupant of said room.

10. In a building construction, a substantially horizontal framework, a iloor and a porous soundabsorbing'ceiling supported by said framework and forming an air space about said framework, said porous ceiling being also provided with openings to permit relatively free passage of air between the space and the room below the ceiling.

11. In a building construction, the improvement which comprises a room bounded by a floor, walls and a ceiling, there being a space above the ceiling, a porous sound-absorbing coveringl on the ceiling, andv openings therein to establish free communication between the room and the air Space JOEL POWRENE. 

